I. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a kneaded dough dividing apparatus that divides and delivers continuously supplied kneaded dough as a plurality of streams of kneaded dough.
II. Description of the Related Art
In the production of bread, a mass of kneaded dough (batch) is prepared in a mixer, and this mass of kneaded dough is extruded as a continuous stream of kneaded dough by a pump and then divided into a plurality of streams of kneaded dough through a kneaded dough dividing apparatus. Thereafter, each stream of kneaded dough is divided into small pieces necessary for bread baking.
When divided into a plurality of streams of kneaded dough through the kneaded dough dividing apparatus, the kneaded dough needs to be divided under equal conditions for all the streams of dough; otherwise it is likely that the divided streams of dough will vary from each other in terms of dough texture, and when small pieces of cut kneaded dough are baked, it will be difficult to obtain bread products of uniform quality.
A typical previously known kneaded dough dividing apparatus has a manifold with one dough inlet and a plurality of dough outlets (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,948,611, 5,350,290 and 5,356,652).
This type of apparatus has the following disadvantages. There are differences in the flow path length in the manifold from the one inlet to the plurality of outlets. Therefore, there are differences in the frictional force that the streams of kneaded dough receive from the inner wall surface of the manifold. Because the kneaded dough is forced into the manifold of large volumetric capacity from one inlet under pressure, the kneaded dough is likely to circulate or partly reside in the manifold, and it is difficult to make uniform the pressure in the manifold. Further, a flow control valve is, generally, provided at each outlet to control the amount of kneaded dough discharged from the outlet. In this regard, if the valve at one outlet is adjusted to increase or decrease the opening area of the outlet, an influence is exerted upon the pressure in the manifold, and this has an effect on the amount of kneaded dough discharged from the other outlets. Consequently, it is necessary to adjust the valves at the other outlets.